In a short press release issued today, Microsoft has confirmed the cancellation of the online game show, 1 vs. 100, after two seasons. The online game show (which was based on the TV version hosted by Bob Saget that aired from October 2006 through February 2008, itself based on a Dutch game of the same name), set a Guinness world record for most contestants in a game show during its beta run when it attracted more than 114,000 people on Xbox Live simultaneously.
“When we started on this journey, we knew we were creating an entirely new genre of entertainment that would be a continually evolving concept,” said Dave McCarthy, General Manager, Microsoft Game Studios, in the press release. “We’re very proud of the ‘1 vs 100’ team and their accomplishments, and are excited to apply what we’ve learned to future programming.”
The press release also claimed that while this may be the end of 1 vs. 100, it is not the end of the online game shows on XBL, “The ‘1 vs 100” team is now focusing their skills and applying the technology used to develop ‘1 vs 100’ to new projects that will be unveiled in the future.”
The release does not give any specifics for the cancellation, but Kotaku is reporting that sources have claimed the issues lie with bad management and poor revenues. Originally, 1 vs. 100 was created as the first of many such games, but numerous management changes eroded the plans that were originally made. In the end though, it appears that the game simply was not bringing in enough revenue to cover a new season.
